An Undeniable Affection
by Rae Sedona
Summary: Alice Kirkland shares an apartment with Alfred F. Jones, and though the two are polar opposites and she claims to hate him, they're best friends. Though, Alice soon wonders if she may like him more than a friend, and when tragedy strikes, she realizes she does. But has she come to her senses too late?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

 _Alfred F. Jones. That's the name of the positively infuriating man...who am I kidding? He's a child. A loud, obnoxious, lazy child who has no regard for personal space nor others' privacy. He's immature, a total idiot, and is under the delusion that he and I are friends, hence why he won't leave me alone and takes every single insult I throw at him as a joke. Just last week, he-...I've gotten off track, haven't I? As if it matters. All that is likely along the lines of what I was going to say anyways._

 _Alfred infuriates me to no end. To make matters worse, we're roommates. He is in college working towards becoming a professional football player and has his life planned out perfectly. He knows exactly what he wants to do and when he wants to do it, and that only makes me hate him even more, as I haven't the foggiest idea. I'm planning on going to college next year, and hope to find out what I want to study before then, but so far, nothing at all has come to mind. So, until something does, I'm stuck working as a waitress and living in a small flat with Alfred._

 _Things could be worse, I suppose. Though, I've never been one to focus on the bright side...much unlike Alfred. But enough about him; I'll say a little about myself. My name is Alice Kirkland, and I'm twenty years old. I graduated from high school last year, and yes, I know that's a little later than people usually do. But that's because my parents decided to move from England to America and my education was, unfortunately, delayed by a year or two._

 _So, yes. I left home as soon as possible and ended up in a mediocre flat shared with the moron who goes to the college just down the street. I-_

"Alfred, shut the bloody hell up! I'm trying to write!" Alice shouted, glaring over the top of her laptop at Alfred, who was dancing around the kitchen and singing at the top of his lungs along with his music, which was mostly the latest trending American pop songs.

"But it's Uptown Funk!" Alfred shouted back before continuing to sing horribly off key to the spatula he was pretending was a microphone.

"That makes it worse, you thick sod!" She groaned and closed her laptop before walking over and unplugging his phone from the speakers connected to it. "Do that when I'm not here."

"Aw, Alie, c'mon! You're no fun." Alfred said, twisting his lips into a pout.

"What ever shall I do?" Alice asked in the most sarcastic tone she could muster as she rolled her eyes. "And for the last time, my name is not Alie. It's Alice."

"I know!" Alfred said with a grin. "It's just a nickname."

"I don't care. Kindly stop calling me that."

"Will you let me keep playing music if I do?"

"No."

"Wow, rude." He chuckled. "Guess I got nothin' to lose, then!"

"Unless you consider your life nothing, you're wrong." Alice muttered under her breath, walking to the fridge to find something to eat.

If Alfred had heard her remark, he didn't show it as he walked to the stove to stir whatever the hell he was making. "So! Whatcha writin'?"

"None of your business." She answered, taking out the things to make a salad.

"I'm just curious, dude." He said with a shrug. "I ain't tryin' to be nosy."

Alice sighed heavily and looked at him. "If I tell you, will you leave the music off?"

"Promise!"

"I thought I'd try my hand at blogging." She said simply before turning back around to make her lunch.

"Oh, hey! Isn't that what all the bored stay at home moms do?"  
Alice looked over her shoulder and glared at him. "That's only a small portion of bloggers. There are many types of bloggers."

"Really? Cool! Like what?" Alfred asked, hopping up to sit on the counter next to where she was irritatedly throwing lettuce into a bowl.

"Google it, if you're so curious." She said with an eye roll.

He shrugged. "Too much effort."

"Your phone is literally two feet away from you. You can reach out and pick it up right now."

"Too much effort!"

"You don't even have to type it in. Use that voice command thing made for lazy people like you. Siri."

"Too much effort!" He said yet again, drawing his words out.

"Then leave me alone!"

"Too m-"

Alice glared at him and interrupted him before he could finish. "I swear to God, it you say, 'too much effort' again, I am going to drop kick you in the balls."

Alfred burst into laughter. "You're what, four eight and as skinny as a pole? I'm five ten and one hundred and seventy pounds! Good luck with that, sweetheart!"  
Alice blushed darkly and took up a handful of salad before throwing it at him in spite. "Shut up, you prick! And I'm not four eight, I'm five one and a quarter!"

Alfred laughed even harder and brushed a piece of lettuce off his shoulder. "Lighten up, dude! I'm just teasin' ya!"

"I don't find it amusing." She huffed, finishing preparing her salad before putting everything back. "And please stop calling me 'dude'. I'm not a man."

"What you got between your legs got nothing to do with it! I call everyone dude, dude." Alfred grinned, hopping off the counter and proceeding to dump what looked like macaroni and cheese from the pot into a bowl.

Alice cringed at his appalling grammar and sat at the table with her salad to eat. "I don't care who you call 'dude' as long as it isn't me."

He chuckled, set his bowl on the table, and sat in the seat across from her. "Dudette, then?"

"Most definitely not."

"Pal?"

"No."  
"Bro?"

"If you want to die."

"Sis?"

"No."

"My main squeeze?"

Alice didn't reply to that with words, but rather with the most threatening glare she could muster.

"That's a no, then?" Alfred chuckled, taking a bite of his lunch. "You're right; that one sounds a little too pervy. Hmm. Oh! How about chickadee?"

"Alfred, I will warn you once and once only." She said, looking him dead in the eye. "If you _ever_ call me that, I will scald your nether regions with boiling tea. Understood?"

Alfred blinked, looking quite perturbed. "All right, all right. ...no need to get violent."

She rolled her eyes and began to eat, doing her best to ignore the sound of Alfred chewing with his mouth open.

"So, what's your blog going to be about?" He asked after less than a minute of blessed silence.

"Nothing. I changed my mind about doing it." Alice answered with a huff.

"What? Why?"

"Shouldn't you be worrying about your final exams instead of why I'm not going to write a blog? The school year ends in two weeks and I haven't seen you so much as touch your books once."

"I'm here for football, not for studying." He said with a laugh. "Also, my grades are good, so even if I do fail all the exams, I'll at least have a passing grade. ...most likely."

"Do yourself a favor and study. Or do us both a favor and go entertain yourself by playing football or something." Alice rolled her eyes.

"It's not football season and all my friends are busy." Alfred sighed.

"So study."

"Studying when you're bored is like stabbing your hand with a knife to get a splinter out. It makes it even worse. And there's screaming. And blood. And pain."

Alice looked up at him, annoyed. "Now you're overdramatizing."

"It's true! If I look at a book for too long, I start coughing up blood!" He said, laughing.

"Right." She nodded. "That's bullshit."

Alfred grinned. "Okay, it is, but it does physically hurt me. I get a headache every time I read for more than two minutes."  
"You may need glasses, moron."

"Glasses?" His eyes widened in horror. "No. No way."

Alice rolled her eyes again and picked up a book she had left on the table and held it up in front of her. "Read the title. The letters are rather large; you should be able to see it perfectly."

Alfred reluctantly looked at the book and squinted, leaning forward a bit to try to make out what it said. About thirty seconds later, she put the book down and looked at him.

"You need glasses."

"I don't want to be a nerd!"

Alice glared at him, as she wore glasses. "Just because someone's vision is poor doesn't make them a nerd."

"But-"

"No 'but's. How do you expect to play professional football when you can't see very well? How did you even pass the physical exam? They check your eyes, don't they?"

"...I memorized the letter chart thing."

She sighed heavily and facepalmed. "You're an idiot."

"I don't want to be made fun of!" Alfred defended, crossing his arms and pouting a little.

"This is college, not middle school. No one is going to make fun of you."

"How am I going to play football with glasses? They'll get broken or something!"

"Then get contacts as well and wear them to practice and games and such." Alice said, exasperated.

Alfred nodded, though seemed slightly distraught. He cleared his throat and hesitantly looked at her. "Could you...could you maybe come with me?"

She blinked, a little shocked. "Come with you? ...why?"

"I...um, I need someone to help me pick out which frame looks the best on me." He said quickly.

"Not buying it." She stated flatly.

"What? Dude, of course I'll be the one buying it!"

Alice resisted the urge to smack him upside the head and instead gave him the most unimpressed look a human could give. "You absolute wanker. I meant your lie, not the glasses."

Alfred's cheeks flushed a little in embarrassment. "...oh. Well, it's not my fault you're so confusing!"

"Nor mine that you're so stupid."

Alfred laughed. "You're funny!"  
"I was being serious."

"It sounded like sarcasm." He said, looking a little confused.

"Well, it wasn't." She answered, standing and taking her empty bowl to the sink to wash it.

"I've known you for what, four months, and still can't tell when you're joking or not?" He shook his head with a chuckle and then grinned. "I guess I'll just have to get to know you better!"

"Why...?" She raised an eyebrow and set the clean bowl and fork into the dish rack.

"Because we're friends! And misunderstandments between friends is bad."

"What's bad is your ability to speak. It's 'misunderstandings', not whatever the hell you said." Alice rolled her eyes and looked at him. "And the only misunderstanding between us is that you are under the impression that we are friends."

Alfred nodded. "Yeah, you're right."

She blinked, not having expected him to react that way. "What?"

"We're more like best friends, aren't we?" He beamed at her.

"Most certainly not!" She exclaimed. "If I could find an affordable place other than here, I would take it without a second thought."

"Sure we are!" Alfred said happily, ignoring her second comment.

"Are not."

"Who's your best friend, then?"

"...None of your business."

He smirked. "You don't have one, do you?"

Alice blushed slightly and looked away, embarrassed that he saw through her lie. "...If I did, would I be here with you? No."

"I knew it! That's it, we're best friends now." He stood and hugged her, smiling widely.

"Get off me, you prick!" She said, shoving him away, her cheeks darkening more. "And don't say such ridiculous things."

"Why not? It's true! You're my best friend."

"We've only known each other four months. Don't be absurd."

"So what? I spend more time with you than I do with my other friends, and you're a lot more fun!"  
Alice blinked and looked at him, a little shocked and slightly touched by the admission. "I'm more fun…? We don't ever do anything together, Alfred..."

"Sure we do!" He smiled. "We watch movies together, don't we?

"You watch movies and babble while I read and ignore you."

"Same difference. Oh! We go out to get food sometimes, that's something!"

"You literally beg me until I drive you to your favorite diner and I only ever agree because you pay for both of us. That sounds less like friendship and more like I'm your mother."

Alfred burst into laughter. "Or a gold digger!"

Alice's expression hardened and she crossed her arms. "Excuse me? I most certainly am not."

"See?" He laughed again. "This is why we need to be better friends! You don't know when I'm joking, either."

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine. We can be 'friends'. But only if you stop bloody pestering me so much! Just because we live together doesn't mean we have to be with each other every second when we're both here. I need time to myself, even if you don't."

Alfred nodded and extended his hand. "Deal!"

Alice raised an eyebrow. "Really? A handshake?"

"Why not? Oh! We can make a secret one if you want! I had this one with my friends back in junior high when we would spit in our hands and then-"

"On second thought, a handshake is fine." She says, quickly shaking his hand before he said anything more.

She let go and glanced at the time, sighing. "I have to get ready for work now."

"'Kay." Alfred smiled. "Have a good day at work!"

"Doubtful." She muttered to herself. Though, as she changed her clothes and put her hair up, she found that she was in a far better mood than she usually was. Why that was, she refused to acknowledge. Having Alfred wanting to be her friend meant nothing to her, and that was what she was going to keep telling herself.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

"For the third time, I am _not_ making you waffles, Alfred. Make them yourself." Alice said, rolling her eyes as she sat on the couch and put her shoes on.

"But I'm hungry!" Alfred whined, looking at her pleadingly.

"We'll stop by McDonald's after we pick up your glasses if you stop complaining." She huffed, looking at him.

His eyes immediately lit up. "Really? Promise?"

"Yes, I bloody promise." Alice sighed and stood again.

"Hell yeah!" He said victoriously, following her happily as she left their apartment and started down the stairs.

"I still don't understand why you're making me do this. Just get one of your parents to do it for you."

"They're busy." Alfred said with a shrug. "You're more fun, anyways! You let me go to McDonald's!"

"And they don't?" She raised an eyebrow at him, holding the complex door open for him.

He shook his head, sighing as he walked outside. "Apparently, it's 'too unhealthy', can you believe it? It's just meat and bread! Potatoes, too, which are vegetables. All those things are good for you!"

Alice walked beside him and sighed heavily, resisting the urge to attempt to smack the stupid out of him. "Bread is not very healthy, and McDonald's as a whole most certainly is _not_."

"But meat and potatoes are good, right?" Alfred asked, tilting his head slightly, looking much like a confused puppy.

"Yes, but I doubt their so called 'meat' is even such at all; it doesn't taste like it in the slightest. And frying anything in oil nearly always makes it unhealthy, Alfred."

"That's so stupid!" He said, getting into the passenger's seat of Alice's car as she got in the driver's seat.

"Yet again, the pot calls the kettle black." She says, buckling her seat belt and starting the engine.

"The hell is that supposed to mean?"

"You're better off not knowing."

Alfred huffed a little and pursed his lips into a childlike pout. "You're mean."

"How do you know for certain I was being mean if you didn't understand what I said?" Alice asked, suppressing a smile as she started to drive.

"...I don't, but-"  
"Aha! You don't. You can't call me mean unless you know for a fact that I was."

"That's a stupid rule!" He whined. "I don't understand half of what you say!"

"That's not my fault."

"Yes, it is!"

"No, it's not."

"You use a lotta big words!"

"'Mordant' is not that big of a word, Alfred." She sighed.

"No, but it's all weird! No one says words like that, dude."

"Oi, I do."

"That's the problem."

"Only to you."

"I'm the person you talk to the most!" Alfred protested. Alice blinked and didn't say anything for a long moment, realizing that he was right.

"Shut up, you are not." She retorted pathetically, the hesitation lengthy enough for even someone like Alfred to notice.

"Suuure." He grinned widely and looked at her. "Who is, then? And yourself doesn't count."  
Alice frowned and furrowed her brow, glaring briefly at him before turning her attention back to the road, not replying.

"It is me, isn't it?" Alfred chuckled and poked her arm. "I'm your favorite person to talk to."

"Just because you're the most frequent by no means makes you my favorite, twat." She huffed.

"Who is, then?"

"None of your bloody business!"

He grinned widely. "Yep. It's totally me."

Alice frowned more and turned on the radio, which, thankfully, distracted Alfred. She took a deep breath before letting the breath out, and along with it her irritation. Well, that's what she had intended to do. It didn't really lessen her irritation at all, because at that exact moment, Alfred began to loudly sing along to the song that came on next...which just _had_ to be Katy Perry. To make matters worse, due to the song being titled 'California Girls' and Alfred being from L.A., he sang along with twice as much obnoxious vigor as usual.

It was all she could do not to reach over and turn the radio off again, but she knew if she did so, that would only make things worse. Either he would continue to sing on his own, and he was quite terrible at it, or whine until she let him turn it back on. Her only option was to suffer, and suffer she did, until they finally arrived.

She immediately turned off the car and practically leapt out of it after she parked, desperate to flee the sound of Alfred attempting to sing Rihanna's part in The Monster by Eminem. Thankfully, he had stopped by the time he got out of the car, but he still was humming what she thought was supposed to be the tune to it as they walked toward the building.

Once inside, Alfred, looking slightly nervous to be there, went with Alice up to the lady at the desk.

"Hello! How may I help you?" She chirped, smiling at them.

"Hey...I'm Alfred Jones. I'm here to pick up my glasses?"

"Oh, yes! One moment, I'll get them right now." She stood and walked off.

Alice glanced at Alfred and smacked his arm lightly. "Stop looking so anxious. They're just glasses."

"But what if they look weird on me?" He asked, looking at her, chewing on his bottom lip.

"You picked out the frames because you liked them, yes?"  
"Yeah, but what if they don't look like I remember? No one was here to help me."

"You're nineteen, Alfred," she sighed, "you need to learn to make decisions on your own and deal with the consequences. You can't always have someone help you and sometimes you're the only one to blame when things go wrong. The sooner you learn that, the better."

Alfred pouted a bit. "Way to be encouraging…."

Alice looked away and cursed internally. She hadn't quite meant to be so dreary, but rather help him realize that someone won't always be there to hold his hand so it would perhaps be easier for him in the future.

The lady returned and handed Alfred a glasses case. "There you are, Mr. Jones! I'd advise you them on before you leave, to see if anything needs to be adjusted."

He nodded and with a slightly unsteady hand, opened the case and put them on. He blinked a few times as his eyes adjusted and looked at Alice. "How do they look…?"

"Perfectly fine." She assured him, handing him the mirror on the desk. "See? I don't know what you were worried about."

Alfred looked into the mirror and then back at her, smiling a bit. "Everything is so much clearer, that's for sure."

"That's because you can actually _see_ now, git. Honestly, you should've gotten them so much sooner."

He chuckled and set the mirror back on the desk. "Yeah, yeah, you already told me that."

The woman grinned at them. "They look good on you, Mr. Jones. Now, you two have a good day! You're an adorable couple, by the way."

Alice's eyes widened and her cheeks immediately flushed. "I beg your pardon, but we are _not_ a couple."

Alfred laughed a little shyly and nodded in agreement. "What she said. We're just friends."

"Hardly even that."

"My apologies." The woman said, chuckling quietly. "Enjoy your day."

"You as well." Alice said, turning and leaving as quickly as she could without seeming overly eager. Alfred followed without hesitation.

"So! McDonald's?" He asked as they got into the car, thankfully saying nothing about the misunderstanding from a few moments ago.

She sighed heavily as she buckled her seat belt and started the engine. "Unfortunately. A promise is a promise."

Alfred grinned excitedly and then reached to turn the radio on. Alice quickly stopped him.

"On second thought, only on one condition. No singing."

"What? But it's so fun!"

"You're terrible at it and I'd rather not have to listen to it." She said bluntly.

He shrugged and turned the radio on. "'Kay."

Alice blinked in surprise. "That easy?"

"Yup...you're paying, right?" He looked at her, his eyes twinkling as he not so subtly suppressed a smile.

"Very funny." She rolled her eyes and started driving.

Alfred chortled and waited not so patiently for them to arrive. When they did, he barely waited for the car to stop fully before he jumped out.

"Alfred!" Alice scolded, following him rather crossly. "Don't you dare do that again, you absolute prick!"

"Oh, come on! We were goin' like two miles an hour." He laughed and slowed down a bit so she could keep up.

"It's not how fast we were going, it was the fact that I had not parked the car yet!"

Alfred just laughed and opened the door for her, saying in a surprisingly good British accent, "Age before beauty, my dear lady."

Alice smacked his arm as she walked inside, both in slight offense at the teasing and at the fact that she had almost burst into laughter. His accent was done well, though; not that she would ever tell him such.

"So rude. I act like a gentleman and you hit me." He stumbled inside, clutching his chest as if he were wounded.

"Shut it and stand up straight, git."

"Can't. I'm...dying." He leaned heavily against her, almost making her fall over with his weight. "At least...now we know why...chivalry is d-dead."

With that, he stopped leaning on her and fell dramatically to the floor, causing several people to look strangely at them and murmur among themselves.

"Alfred, get off the ground." She sighed heavily, not really caring that people were staring. After all, this was McDonald's, and if judgmental glances and hushed whispering made them feel better about themselves, they could do so all they wanted. Their lifespans had most likely been lowered by what they just consumed and if she could help better their lives at the cost of their meaningless opinion of her, then so be it.

Alfred did so and laughed, looking at her as he dusted himself off. "Oh, come on! Why didn't you laugh?"

"Because I have a sense of humor."

"So do I!"

"Allow me to rephrase myself." Alice sighed. "I have a _good_ sense of humor."

"Maybe you should expand it, because ya don't laugh half as often as you should!" He beamed and stepped up to the register as the customer in front of them finished before ordering his usual and paying.

The two of them went to a table and sat down, after Alfred managed to convince Alice into getting something as well, that is. Though, it was more her pretending to not want to until she 'gave in', as if he ever found out that she actually didn't hate it, he would most certainly use it as leverage against her to take him there more often.

"What did you mean, I don't laugh half as often as I should?" She asked, taking a delicate sip of her water.

"You hardly ever laugh, and it makes it seem like you're unhappy all the time." Alfred shrugged.

"Why does it bother you? Because I'm, as you say, 'mean'?"

He shook his head and took a long drink from his large diet Coke before smiling. "Because I want you to be happy, that's all."

To her luck, Alice didn't have to explain why she looked so shocked, as their numbers were called a moment later. He volunteered to get their food and she stared at the table as he did so, quite touched and slightly perplexed. Being surprised by that meant that she had been around careless people in her life thus far, or she was being overly emotional. Either way, Alfred was a sweet person, and for the first time since they met, she was truly thankful to have him around.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

"Francis, if you don't stop singing 'Be Our Guest', I swear on my grandmother's beloved memory, I will castrate you." Alice hissed, glaring at her French co-worker as they prepared the dining room at the restaurant they worked at before it opened for the day.

Francis merely chuckled and looked at her with his, though she hated admitting it, charming smile. "What's wrong with giving us a little something to work to?"

"It's bloody annoying, that's what." She huffed, straightening a chair.

He gasped and clutched his heart, looking at her in shock. "Your words, they wound me."

"Good. Hopefully you won't survive."

Francis laughed and shook his head. "You're so cruel. How will you ever find a lover with a frown such as the one you always wear and an attitude such as the one you constantly bear?"  
She rolled her eyes and threw a spoon at him. "Shut up, frog. As I've said before, my love life is none of your business and really? Did you _have_ to make that rhyme?"  
He ended up catching the utensil and chuckled again. "But of course I did, mon cheri."

"I know what that means, you know. Kindly refrain from using those ridiculous endearments toward me. It's irritating and inappropriate."

"Does everything I do annoy you?" Francis asked, amused.

"There's no way I'm answering that." She huffed.

"Because you secretly adore me and your fragile heart cannot bear to admit it?" He asked, his lips pulled into teasing smile. "You've nothing to fear. I will not reject you, my dear."

Alice rolled her eyes again. "Quite the opposite. I don't want to give you the satisfaction of knowing precisely how much I hate you."

"If you hate me as much as you always say, why do you continue to speak with me, hm?"

She glared at him and resisted the urge to smack him. "Shut it, you twat."

Francis grinned and continued to work, humming to himself as he did so. Alice shot him a glare before turning her attention back to her work as well.

The day passed quickly, and before long, she was opening the door to her and Alfred's apartment. Almost immediately after she walked inside and closed it, a certain exuberant American leapt toward her.

"Alice! Guess what?!"

She groaned and rolled her eyes, almost wishing she was back at work. "Alfred, I _just_ walked in the door. Can it wait? I want to shower and relax for a bit."

She pushed past him and tossed her purse onto the couch, jumping in shock when she heard a quiet yelp. She looked over and saw a man sitting there, straightening his glasses, which her purse had knocked askew. He looked quite like Alfred, despite his hair being longer, his eyes being violet, and a wayward curl where Alfred's strange cowlick would've been.

"Good heavens! I'm so sorry...I didn't see you there." Alice apologized quickly, quite embarrassed. "Are you all right, lad?"

"Yeah, don't worry." He said, standing and handing her purse to her with a reassuring smile. "That sort of thing happens more often than you'd believe."

Alfred laughed and slung an arm over his shoulders. "Mattie here's kind of invisible."

"I'm not invisible." He sighed.

"I don't mean to be rude, but who exactly is he?" Alice inquired, slightly annoyed that she had to ask that because Alfred hadn't thought to introduce him.

"Oh! This is Matthew! He's my baby brother." He grinned and ruffled his hair.

"You have a brother?" She blinked in surprise.

"Wait, you haven't mentioned me to her?" Matthew asked Alfred, looking slightly hurt.

"I kinda forgot to…." Alfred laughed nervously before gasping. "Oh! We have a surprise for you!"

Alice noticed that he changed the subject rather quickly from that without apologizing and wondered how often that happened. "Oh? And what might that be?"

"Well, every year, our family takes a summer vacation, and we're each allowed to bring a friend along." Matthew explained. "And-"

"It'll be during my birthday!" Alfred said excitedly. "You have to come with us!"

Alice blinked, not having expected that. "Wait just a moment, you want me to come with you?"

"'s what I said, wasn't it?"

"Where exactly are you going?"

"California!"

She rolled her eyes. "I should've known. But I'll have to decline; I can't afford a plane ticket and there's no way I'm driving or being driven all the way out there."

"Oh! And you won't have to pay a dime!" Alfred grinned. "It's taken care of."

Alice's eyes widened a bit in shock. "What? Alfred, I couldn't possibly! Are you mad? Plane tickets are not an inexpensive purchase and you're a bloody college student!"

"I wouldn't be paying, duh!" He laughed. "My parents would."

"How is that any better? I couldn't possibly allow them to pay, either!"

"Why not? They won't care at all!"

"How on earth could they not care?"

"Pff, they're millionaires, dude. One plane ticket is nothing to them!" Alfred laughed again.

Alice blinked. "Wait, what?"

"Yep! So now you got no excuse!"

"It's 'have', not 'got." She sighed. "But good God, that was unexpected...millionaires?"

"Or billionaires, I always forget which." He shrugged.

"If you're so rich, why do you live in this pathetic excuse of an apartment? I certainly wouldn't be here if I were you."

"Ah…." Alfred rubbed the back of his neck, looking a little sheepish. "Well, I didn't want to stay in a dorm because...ew. And I wanted to stay somewhere I could pay for with my own money, and here was the closest I could afford that was decent enough and near the college, so yep!"  
"Your own money? Why have you not told me that you have a job?"

"He means our parents' monthly allowance to us." Matthew said, sighing.

"I see." Alice said, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. Hearing about the luxuries of rich people never ceased to get her annoyed due to growing up in a small house with her parents and four brothers.

"So!" Alfred exclaimed, startling the other two a bit. "Will you come? Please say yes!"

"...I'll think about it." She said with reluctance. "I don't know if I'm all right with letting someone pay for a bloody plane ticket for me."

"Alfred was telling the truth," Matthew smiled, "they really wouldn't mind at all; they let us bring friends every year on our summer vacation trips."

"Or someone who's _more_ than a friend." Alfred grinned rather wickedly and nudged Matthew's side, whose pale face ignited in a dark pink blush.

"W-what are you talking ab-about?"  
"Don't pretend you don't know that I know; it's so obvious!" He laughed. "I've even seen you and Julchen kissing!"

Matthew's eyes widened in horror. "When?"

"Christmas! Under that mistletoe on the front porch."

"We were alone!" He exclaimed, sounding rather soft and meek.

"Actually, you weren't. I was making snowballs in the yard, remember?" Alfred ruffled his hair again. "For that huge snowball fight afterward."

"You mean the one where you called everyone outside to see 'something amazing', only to pelt us with snowballs without warning?"

"Yep!"

"I can't believe you were there for our first kiss…." Matthew bit his lip in humiliation.  
"To be fair, I did say hello to you guys!"

"I didn't hear a thing."

"Well, I said it. Even considered throwing a snowball at you, but then you kissed, so I decided not to."

"How considerate of you." He said sarcastically.

Alice's lips quirked upward into a small, amused smile as the two spoke, finding the way they interacted quite sweet compared to how she was used to brothers interacting.

"I know, right? And you guys always say how rude I am! I can be real nice sometimes."

"Not hurling a snowball at your brother while he's kissing his girlfriend isn't 'real nice', Alfred."

"So, it's official now? You guys are couple? I can't believe you didn't tell me!" Alfred said with a smile, though Alice could see a slight sadness in his eyes as he said that.

"...yes, it's been official since New Year's. And I didn't tell you because whenever I tried, you'd interrupt me or get distracted…." Matthew said quietly.

"Oh…." He blinked and for a brief moment, looked upset. "Well, I would have been happy to know. I am happy to know! Congrats, little bro." His smile returned and he ruffled his hair for a third time.

He smiled a bit as he fixed his hair. "Thanks, Al."

"So!" Alfred exclaimed suddenly, making Alice jump. "Have you decided if you wanna come yet, best friend?"

She didn't bother telling him off for calling her that, having learned from experience that it did nothing to make him stop. "...it's hardly been two minutes since I said I'd think about it."

"And? How long do you need? It's a trip to the beautiful state of Cali! And the hotel is by the ocean, on the hotel's private beach!"

Alice couldn't deny that it sounded quite tempting, but the whole matter of having someone other than herself pay for her plane ticket, complete strangers, no less, still bothered her.

"It really isn't a bother." Matthew assured her, "you're more than welcome to come."

"Are you certain…?"

"One hundred percent." He smiled.

Alice took a deep breath and sighed. "Then I suppose I'll go."

"Really?" Alfred gasped and then hugged her tightly. "Hell yeah!"  
"Let me go." She said, wincing and trying to push him away.

"Sorry, I'm just excited!" He let go and bounced on the balls of his feet like a little kid. "We're gonna have so much fun!"

"Yes, yes." She nodded, rolling her eyes and suppressing a smile. "But if you two will excuse me, I'm tired and in dire need of a shower."

"Oh, I'm sorry; we didn't mean to keep you from relaxing and stuff." Matthew said with an apologetic smile. "I should be going, anyways."

"Aw, but you just got here, Matt!" Alfred whined.  
"No, she just got here. I've been here for two hours."

"But we don't see each other enough!"

"We will on the trip." He chuckled softly and pat his shoulder before extending a hand to Alice. "It was very nice to meet you, and I look forward to getting to know you better."  
She took his hand and shook it. "The same to you, Matthew."

He let go and waved. "See you guys later."

As Alfred walked with Matthew to his car, Alice rubbed her sore neck and went to her room. She set her purse on her dresser before kicking off her shoes and letting herself fall backward onto her bed. She stared up at the ceiling and pondered what had just happened. She was going to go on a summer vacation with Alfred and his family, and for some reason she couldn't decipher, she was actually looking forward to it.

* * *

 **A/N: I apologize for taking such a long time to update! Trying to update three fics regularly while also having a life is nearly impossible. I hope you liked chapter three! Leave a review? Thanks so much for reading!**


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